Mild temps ground Fox River Grove ski jumping tournament

FOX RIVER GROVE, Ill. (WLS) -- The weather conditions in the northwest suburbs are less than perfect for this year's Norge Ski Club tournament.

More than 4,000 spectators were expected to gather around a hill in Fox River Grove to watch some of the best jumpers from the U.S. and around the world. But the 150-foot ski jump will sit quiet on what is normally the biggest weekend of the year for the Norge Ski Club - all because of the weather.

For the first time in 112 years, the winter ski jumping competition has to be postponed. Charlie Sedevic with the ski club said they just can't have the event with the rain and 50s in the forecast despite snow still being on the run.

"When you land on that, it's like landing on asphalt," Sedevic said. "Tradition or no tradition, we don't want to put a skier at risk."

There have been years where they were able to improvise to pull off the event.

"Snow was imported on boxcars from Michigan, and other years we scraped with a Zamboni ice off the local ice arena," Sedevic said.

But nothing could be done to salvage this weekend, so the usually boisterous crowds will have to wait a few more weeks.

"It's a great family atmosphere. We've been doing this for 112 years and we get anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 people," Sedevic said.

The event has been rescheduled for February 11 and 12.